The present invention relates to a new and distinct Hydrangea plant, botanically known as Hydrangea paniculata and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘SMNHPRZEP’.
The new Hydrangea plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Grand Haven, Mich. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new early-flowering Hydrangea plants with strong stems and large and attractive inflorescences.
The new Hydrangea plant originated from an open-pollination in July, 2004 of Hydrangea paniculata ‘Little Lamb’, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,395, as the female, or seed parent and an unknown selection of Hydrangea paniculata as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Hydrangea plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Grand Haven, Mich. in July, 2009.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hydrangea plant by softwood cuttings in a controlled environment in Grand Haven, Mich. since June, 2010 has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.